In 1743, an outbreak of a deadly cold-like fever originated in Italy and swept through Europe.
Because doctors believed that diseases and epidemics were ordained or influenced by the stars they called it, as the press reported it from Italy, an influenza.
The English word for influenza is influence, which although abbreviated to flu still means the disease flows from the influence of the heavens.
The common winter viral infection many of us catch every year is called the “flu”.
